Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on the 2nd of October, 1869 and died on the 30th of January 1948. He was the pre-eminent ideological, political and social leader of India during the time of the Indian Independence Movement. He pioneered a resistance to tyranny through mass peaceful civil disobedience; this policy was totally grounded on a basis of nonviolence. This concept led India to independence and inspired movements for various different civil rights and freedoms across the world. Gandhi is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation. QUOTE “To some people a living saint, to others a fraud, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi influenced people around the world with his philosophy of peace and non-violence.” BOOK: MAHATMA GANDHI- FATHER OF MODERN INDIA BY SIMON ADAMS
PLACE IN HISTORY AND DIFFERENT VIEWS OF GANDHI
Gandhi was born on October 2nd 1869, in Western India. He studied law in London and in 1893 he went to South Africa where he spent 21 years opposing discriminatory legislation against Indians. It was in 1914 when he returned to India where he supported and helped the Home Rule movement and became the leader of the Indian National Congress. The Congress advocated a policy of non-violence, non-cooperation to help achieve independence. Following his first major non-cooperation and Civil Disobedience campaign which began in 1919 and ended in 1922, Gandhi was then jailed for conspiracy from 1922 and was released in 1924. In 1930 he led a 200 mile march to the sea in order to collect salt as a symbolic defence action of the government monopoly. This symbolic action marked the beginning of the second major campaign of civil disobedience. On his second release from prison in 1931 he attended the London Round Table Conference on Indian constitutional reform. He negotiated with the Cabinet Minister in 1946 which recommended the new constitutional structure. It was after independence in 1947, he then tried to stop the Hindu-Muslim conflict in Bengal. This policy led to his assassination.
Gandhi was a national icon who solely led the struggle for India’s independence, free from the British colonial rule. He alone empowered millions of common Indians. During his life he strongly opposed any type of violence or terrorism and he did this by using only the “highest moral standards”. Gandhi had a philosophy of non-violence, this philosophy today has influenced not only the nation of India but it has influenced several international resistance movements, one of which American Civil Rights Movement which was led to Martin Luther King.
However, India’s independence was not solely won by Gandhi, it was at the cost of the sacrifice and work of 100million Indians, over three to four generations. Gandhi managed to lead a rebellion of 300million people and successfully managed to tear down the British Empire in India. He stated “truth and non-violence are as old as the hills”. Gandhi alone helped a silent nation which had been forced to suffer through 1000 years of oppression, tyranny and invasion, to stand up for themselves, their beliefs and gain back their independence; managing to bring down a world-wide empire.
It was Gandhi who managed to create the first ever known nationwide organization which was truly representative of the Indians common beliefs. This organization involved men and women from all religions, had 18 different language groups and included some of the poorest villages of the furthest corners of the Indian continent. All these people together were united in a nationwide struggle for both democracy and freedom. “Gandhi talked to the people like he was one of them, because he truly was one of them. He talked in the native language, inspiring the common man to feel he belonged to something called a nation”.
Gandhi forced the Indian National Congress into fighting into the rights of every equal man, he led his nation into fighting for their rights against poverty, illiteracy, disease and alcoholism, doing all of this while fighting against Britain. Above everything, Gandhi made his nation work together for something which would benefit the common good and help them to develop a sense of brotherhood and identity.
TIMELINE 1869 : Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is born in Porbandar, India.
1876 : At age seven Gandhi begins to become aware of the unfairness of the Indian Caste System.
1883 : Gandhi marries Kasturbai Makanji, both age 13.
1888 : Gandhi becomes a Law Student in London, England.
1891: He successfully the University exam. He then returns to India to practice law.
1893 : Travels to South Africa, to work as a lawyer.
1894 : He campaigns to uphold the right of South African Indians to vote.
1896 :While in South Africa Gandhi is beaten and treated badly by white South Africans
1899 : Gandhi organizes Volunteer Ambulance Corps, made up of Indians.
1903 : Begins to write an influential journal in South Africa named the Indian Opinion.
1909 : Gandhi writes his first book: Indian Home Rule.
1919: 15,000 people gather to peacefully demonstrate on the date of the Sikh New Year. Shortly after they begin to gather, open fire is ordered on the crowd. This act of violence leaves 400 people dead and 11,000 wounded.
1920 :Gandhi becomes the president of the All-India Home Rule League (AIHRL, an organization campaigning for independence from Britain. This represents economic progress and national unity to many of India's citizens.
1930 : The Salt March incites a huge wave of nonviolent protest throughout India. Gandhi along with many of his followers march to the coast of Dandi.. Many people are injured or sent to jail.
1931 : Gandhi is named "Man of the Year" by Time magazine.
1933-1939 : Gandhi again travels throughout India speaking about welfare and other important issues to India.
1946-1947 : War between the Hindus and the Muslims, the result: 20,000 people either dead or wounded.
1947 :India gains independence from Britain.
1948 : Gandhi is assassinated.
ARTEFACT
Gandhi's favourite pocket watch which he used to tell the time while trying to overthrow the British Empire in certain events such as The Salt March, this watch was very sentimental to Gandhi.
EXPLANATION OF WHY HE IS, TO ME, THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURE IN HISTORY
Gandhi, was to me the most important figure in history because I believe he was the most inspirational. Many leaders such as Martin Luther King have learned of the benefits of his methods and have applied them to their own political struggles. Martin Luther King was inspired by Gandhi to lead non-violent protests against discrimination in America. He spent most of the last years of his life writing to his fellow leaders of nations to discontinue their violent ways, Hitler was one of the leaders he wrote to. However, unfortunately many of these leaders did not share Gandhi’s ideal and did not think his method was beneficial. Gandhi stated that "A non-violent revolution is not a program of 'seizure of power', but it is a program of transformation of relationships."
Now, four decades after Gandhi’s death the opinions about his various achievements remain divided. To me, however, he satisfies the criteria necessary to be considered one of the most influential people, and because he does this completely, he is my most influential person ever. It is impossible to say whether Gandhi’s ideas will prove of lasting value in the future however there is little doubt that “his life had a rare grandeur about it”. His courage to change India’s future, with a complete and utter lack of fear is inspirational and stunning, his life surely is the greatest legacy.
Mohandas Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on the 2nd of October, 1869 and died on the 30th of January 1948. He was the pre-eminent ideological, political and social leader of India during the time of the Indian Independence Movement. He pioneered a resistance to tyranny through mass peaceful civil disobedience; this policy was totally grounded on a basis of nonviolence. This concept led India to independence and inspired movements for various different civil rights and freedoms across the world. Gandhi is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation.QUOTE
“To some people a living saint, to others a fraud, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi influenced people around the world with his philosophy of peace and non-violence.”
BOOK: MAHATMA GANDHI- FATHER OF MODERN INDIA BY SIMON ADAMS
PLACE IN HISTORY AND DIFFERENT VIEWS OF GANDHI
Gandhi was born on October 2nd 1869, in Western India. He studied law in London and in 1893 he went to South Africa where he spent 21 years opposing discriminatory legislation against Indians. It was in 1914 when he returned to India where he supported and helped the Home Rule movement and became the leader of the Indian National Congress. The Congress advocated a policy of non-violence, non-cooperation to help achieve independence. Following his first major non-cooperation and Civil Disobedience campaign which began in 1919 and ended in 1922, Gandhi was then jailed for conspiracy from 1922 and was released in 1924. In 1930 he led a 200 mile march to the sea in order to collect salt as a symbolic defence action of the government monopoly. This symbolic action marked the beginning of the second major campaign of civil disobedience. On his second release from prison in 1931 he attended the London Round Table Conference on Indian constitutional reform. He negotiated with the Cabinet Minister in 1946 which recommended the new constitutional structure. It was after independence in 1947, he then tried to stop the Hindu-Muslim conflict in Bengal. This policy led to his assassination.
Gandhi was a national icon who solely led the struggle for India’s independence, free from the British colonial rule. He alone empowered millions of common Indians. During his life he strongly opposed any type of violence or terrorism and he did this by using only the “highest moral standards”. Gandhi had a philosophy of non-violence, this philosophy today has influenced not only the nation of India but it has influenced several international resistance movements, one of which American Civil Rights Movement which was led to Martin Luther King.
However, India’s independence was not solely won by Gandhi, it was at the cost of the sacrifice and work of 100million Indians, over three to four generations. Gandhi managed to lead a rebellion of 300million people and successfully managed to tear down the British Empire in India. He stated “truth and non-violence are as old as the hills”. Gandhi alone helped a silent nation which had been forced to suffer through 1000 years of oppression, tyranny and invasion, to stand up for themselves, their beliefs and gain back their independence; managing to bring down a world-wide empire.
It was Gandhi who managed to create the first ever known nationwide organization which was truly representative of the Indians common beliefs. This organization involved men and women from all religions, had 18 different language groups and included some of the poorest villages of the furthest corners of the Indian continent. All these people together were united in a nationwide struggle for both democracy and freedom. “Gandhi talked to the people like he was one of them, because he truly was one of them. He talked in the native language, inspiring the common man to feel he belonged to something called a nation”.
Gandhi forced the Indian National Congress into fighting into the rights of every equal man, he led his nation into fighting for their rights against poverty, illiteracy, disease and alcoholism, doing all of this while fighting against Britain. Above everything, Gandhi made his nation work together for something which would benefit the common good and help them to develop a sense of brotherhood and identity.
TIMELINE
1869 : Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi is born in Porbandar, India.
1876 : At age seven Gandhi begins to become aware of the unfairness of the Indian Caste System.
1883 : Gandhi marries Kasturbai Makanji, both age 13.
1888 : Gandhi becomes a Law Student in London, England.
1891: He successfully the University exam. He then returns to India to practice law.
1893 : Travels to South Africa, to work as a lawyer.
1894 : He campaigns to uphold the right of South African Indians to vote.
1896 :While in South Africa Gandhi is beaten and treated badly by white South Africans
1899 : Gandhi organizes Volunteer Ambulance Corps, made up of Indians.
1903 : Begins to write an influential journal in South Africa named the Indian Opinion.
1909 : Gandhi writes his first book: Indian Home Rule.
1919: 15,000 people gather to peacefully demonstrate on the date of the Sikh New Year. Shortly after they begin to gather, open fire is ordered on the crowd. This act of violence leaves 400 people dead and 11,000 wounded.
1920 :Gandhi becomes the president of the All-India Home Rule League (AIHRL, an organization campaigning for independence from Britain. This represents economic progress and national unity to many of India's citizens.
1930 : The Salt March incites a huge wave of nonviolent protest throughout India. Gandhi along with many of his followers march to the coast of Dandi.. Many people are injured or sent to jail.
1931 : Gandhi is named "Man of the Year" by Time magazine.
1933-1939 : Gandhi again travels throughout India speaking about welfare and other important issues to India.
1946-1947 : War between the Hindus and the Muslims, the result: 20,000 people either dead or wounded.
1947 :India gains independence from Britain.
1948 : Gandhi is assassinated.
ARTEFACT
Gandhi's favourite pocket watch which he used to tell the time while trying to overthrow the British Empire in certain events such as The Salt March, this watch was very sentimental to Gandhi.
EXPLANATION OF WHY HE IS, TO ME, THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGURE IN HISTORY
Gandhi, was to me the most important figure in history because I believe he was the most inspirational. Many leaders such as Martin Luther King have learned of the benefits of his methods and have applied them to their own political struggles. Martin Luther King was inspired by Gandhi to lead non-violent protests against discrimination in America. He spent most of the last years of his life writing to his fellow leaders of nations to discontinue their violent ways, Hitler was one of the leaders he wrote to. However, unfortunately many of these leaders did not share Gandhi’s ideal and did not think his method was beneficial. Gandhi stated that "A non-violent revolution is not a program of 'seizure of power', but it is a program of transformation of relationships."
Now, four decades after Gandhi’s death the opinions about his various achievements remain divided. To me, however, he satisfies the criteria necessary to be considered one of the most influential people, and because he does this completely, he is my most influential person ever. It is impossible to say whether Gandhi’s ideas will prove of lasting value in the future however there is little doubt that “his life had a rare grandeur about it”. His courage to change India’s future, with a complete and utter lack of fear is inspirational and stunning, his life surely is the greatest legacy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
WEBSITES
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mohandas_gandhi.html
http://ridasarah.tripod.com/id2.html
http://www.thequoteblog.com/category/mohandas-gandhi/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi
http://www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com/biography-mahatma-gandhi (for background information)
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/the-mission-and-legacy-of-gandhi.html
IMAGE: thequoteblog.com
http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/mahatma-gandhi/legacy.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/51468.stm
http://rena.wao.com/gandhi/
http://gulfnews.com/news/world/usa/businessman-vijay-mallya-buys-gandhi-artefacts-for-1-8m-1.56292
Mahatmas Gandhi- book
Chambers Dictionary of World History, New Edition
A Brief History of India, Brief History.